Locomotive



Dec. 16, 1930. w. F. KlEsEl., JR 1,785,485

LOCOMOTIVE Filed Aug. 26, 1927 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec. 16, 1930. w. F. KlEsEL. .JR

LocoMoTIvE Filed Aug. 26, 1927 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 tot Patented Dec. 16, 1930 WILLIAM I'. KIESEL, JR., 0F ALTOONA, PENNSYLVANIA LocoMorIvE VApplication led August 26, 1927. Serial No. 215,726.

This invention relates to locomotives and more particularly to the construction of the parts of a locomotive forward of the boiler barrel.

The various objects and novel features of the invention may be enumerated briefly as follows:

1. The provision of a locomotive 'forepart formed of a sin le casting.

2. The inclusion o? the following major parts as a unitary structure; smoke-box, stack, cylinders, steam chests, exhaust conduits, live steam passages, main frame attaching means, bumper beam attaching means, and exhaust stand.

3. The elimination of bolting flanges and the difficulties experienced with bolting in the fore-part of a locomotive.

4. The provision of a non-cylindrical smoke-box, the lower wall of which is dished and supports an integral exhaust nozzle stand.

5. The use of the lower wall of the smokebox as a portion of the cylinder saddle.

6. The arrangement of the lower wall of the smoke-box and thek main frame attaching means together with certain webs and steam conduits to form a girder or su porting and connecting means for the cylinders and their appurtenances.

7. The arrangement of the live steam passages integral with the walls of the smokebox and of the steam chest, thereby eliminating the usual expansion sleeve joint and packing which is provided to prevent ingress of air to the smoke-box around the usual outside steam pi es.

8. The depression of t e top of the cylinder saddle to a point below the lower wall of the boiler barrel to obtain a maximum length of stack.

9. A reduction in weight of several tons.

10. A reduction in non-effective weight permitting an increase in the boiler size and allowing the boiler to be moved forward so that the center ofthe stack is forward of the transverse center line of the cylinders without unduly distorting the exhaust steam conduits.

11. A simplified arrangement of bifurcating one of the exhaust steam passages from each cylinder to permit an almost dlrect line of exhaust steam to the feed water heater.

Other and further objects and features of the invention, which permit an arrangement of the fore-part of a locomotive more nearly conforming to the ideal desi than has heretofore been possible, will e more apparent to those skilled in the art upon a consideration of the accompanying drawings and following specification wherein is disclosed, by way of example only, the present preferred form of the invention, it being understood however that various changes may be made therein such as fall within the scope of the a pended claims without departing from t e spirit of the invention.

In said drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the forepart of a locomotive showing one-half thereof in transverse vertical section on line 1 1 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section taken on broken line 2 2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a partial horizontal section taken on line 3 3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section on broken line 4 4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a transverse section on line 5 5 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a detail section taken on line 6 6 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 7 is a vertical longitudinal section taken on line 7 7 of Fig. 1.

The well reco ized method of constructing the fore-part o a locomotive is to cast each cylinder and its valve chest as a separate art toofether with approximately one-hal of what may be termed the cylinder saddle. Each of the halves of the saddle is provided with bolting flanges and the two parts are secured together, on the center line of the locomotive, by tapered bolts fitted in suitable reamed holes in the flanges. The smoke-box has been formed cylindrical of approximately the same diameter as the front end of the boiler and of rolled plate. It has been secured by riveting or boltmg to suitable flanges on the cylinder saddle. Separate castings have been provided for the bumper beam which Ibroken loo have been bolted to the saddle and bumper beam have been secured between the main frames of the locomotive by further bolting operations. Separate or outside steam pipes have been provided to carry the live steam to the valve chests and these passed through openings in the walls of the smoke-box which were bushed and provided with expansion joints. Usually cored passages in the saddle carried the exhaust steam to the separate exhaust stand or pot. If required, the feed water heater was provided with exhaust steam by pipes connected to the rear of the saddle and in communication at right angles with the cored exhaust passages. The above arrangement and construction offered a number of chances for imperfect fittin and the resulting openings into the smokeox permitted ingress of air tending to reduce the vacuum, upon which efficient draft is dependent. With large locomotives and particularly those using extremely high pressure steam, the cylinder pressures are very great and it is almost impossible to provide suflicient bolts and other fastening means to kee the joints between the saddle sections and Ibetween these sections and the smoke-box from working loose.

It is the main object of the present invention to overcome all of the above diiculties by casting the whole fore-part of a locomotive in one integral part. Preferably this casting is made of steel in order that it may be as light and strong as possible.

Such unit construction permits the complete elimination of bolting flanges and their reinforcing means thus offering a considerable saving in weight. By omitting the double surfaces usuallyl provided for bolting; in the center of t e saddle; where the sa dle contacts with the smoke-box; at the attachment of the bumper beam; and at the connections of internal piping, several tons of metal can be saved and the weight can be utilized to provide a larger boiler to make more steam available for a larger horse power output. The elimination\ of the bolting flanges and similar arts allows the construction of the smokeox saddle top and pipe connections to be more in accord with the desired ideal shape. This permits locating piping connected with the superheaters and feed water heater in such a manner as to permit easy removal of the superheater piping and units and to permit more favorable relative gas entrainment areas at the bottom of the stack, by departing, locally, from the commonly used cylindrical sha e of the smoke-box and the ox type of cy inder saddle.

Referring now to the drawings, there is disclosed at 10 the smoke-box havin at 11 the circular rear end portion adapted or attachment to the boiler barrel and at 12 the circular door ring provided with the door seat main frame. The

13. At 18 are arranged the stationary portions of the door hinge.

The upper section of the smoke-box is substantially of cylindrical form as shown in Fig. 1 and the external stack 14 is integral therewith. A portion 15 of the stack extends within the smoke-box forming an extension of the outer portion 14 and is provided at its lower end with the seat 16 for the internal portion of the stack, not shown, and with attaching means 17 for securing this detachable internal portion in position.

Behind the stack there is a flattened portion 19 forming a seat for the feed water heater, not shown, and the opening 20 provides means for introducing the lower part of the feed water heater and the water and steam pipes from the heater into the smoke-box.

The smoke-box shown is primarily intended for use with a locomotive boiler having a steam drum above the boiler barrel and provided at its forward end with a throttle valve from which branch a pair of forwardly extending steam pipes. On either side of the smoke-box at an angle of about 45 from the horizontal and in a transverse plane just at the rear of the stack are the extended portions 21, through which these steam pipes may pass vertically into the smoke-box. hIn the horizontal portion 22 of each extension is a suitable circular opening 23 for the passage of a steam pipe and a flexible packing means is provided between the pipe and the walls of the opening in order to permit movement of the pipe, due to expansion and contraction of the parts, without allowing the entrance of air into the smoke box. A suitable form of packing for this purpose is disclosed in my co-peuding application Serial No. 205,019, filed July ll 1927. These steam pipes are secured, within the smokebox, to superheater headers which may be of the conventional form. Together with the return headers they form swing legs to take up expansion and allow relative movement between the drum and the steam chests. The return headers from the superheater-s supply steam to each of the valve chests of the locomotive by means of the live steam passages 24 which take the place of the usual outside steam pipes. secured to and supported by the flanged seats 25 on the inner wall of the smoke-box at the ends of the passages 24. It will be noted from Fig. 1 that, between the boiler barrel attaching ring and the door ring, the lower portion of the smoke-box is non-circular in transverse section. The side walls 26 are almost vertical, and they meet the walls 27. inclined at an angle of about 45. It is through these walls 27 that the live steam assages leading to the steam chests are ormed.

The bottom wall of the smoke box forms the top of the cylinder saddle and it is delll) These headers may be depression.

slope upwardl to form a conical portion 29 which merges into the top of, is integral with and supports the exhaust pot or stand 30. This exhaust stand may be constructed in accordance with thevdisclosure in my co-pending application Serial No. 184,757, filed April 18, 1927, now Patent'No. 1,726,152'of August 27, 1929, and is provided on its upper surface 31 with a suitable seat for the attachment of an exhaust nozzle. Between the depression 28 and the wall 29 -there'is an' annular seat 32 for the bottom of the stack screen or netting. The arrangement of the bottom wall of the smoke-'box is such that sparks and cinders passing into the .smokebox from the Hues will tend to fiow toward the deepest depression 28where the high velocity of the gases will carry them against the circular netting, which rests on the seat 32, where they will be pulverized and carried off through the stack. The bottom wall of the smoke-box is such that horizontal sections thereof at different elevations are circular or as near circular as possible, in view of the necessary internal piping arrangements and it thus approaches the ideal form. The great depression of the lower wall, made possible by the present unit construction,

allows Aa maximum distance from that wall to the top of the stack and from the top of the exhaust stand to the top of the stack thus obtaining the greatest possible draftunder the existlng conditions of steam pressure and flue gas volume.

The cylinders 35 are cast integral with the previously described parts. They are of conventional form and ada ted to receive the bushings or linings 36. rranged between the tops of the cylinders and the inclined walls 27 of the smoke-box are the valve chests 37 each containinfr a chamber 38 for the main piston-type valve and a chamber 39 for an auxiliary or cut-o' valve. Within the steam chest suitable passages 49 and 41 are provided, as is well known, for the live and exhaust steam to flow between the cylh inder and the valve chamber. The live steam passage 24 leads directly into the auxiliary valve chamber 39 which is connected to the steam space of the main valve chamber by a From thisvbottom the walls' sults in a great saving in weight at the front end of the locomotive. It is estimated that in large locomotives the weight saving will be as much as five tons. This great reduction of weight at the front end requires some compensating in order that proper balance and weight distribution on the drivers may be obtained. The maximum wei ht er pair of ldrivers is always limited and or est o eration the distribution of weight should e as uniform as possible among the airs of drivers. When a reduction in weig tis made at the front end, some com ensation must be made therefore, either y carrying more weight on the trailer truck, which is non-productive weight, or moving the boiler forward to effect a balance. The latter is the pre ferred arrangement and can be carried out to best effect by means of thel present construe` tion. Furthermore the boiler can be increased in weight and size if desired, to compensa-te for the saving in the front end construction, to thus deliver a greater quantity of steam. It will be seen that in the present case the boiler has been moved forward so that the center ofthe stack is forward of the transverse center line of the cylinders, as is best seen in Fig. 3. This procedure distorts the exhaust passage so that those from the front ends of the valve chambers are shorter than those from the rear. ends. ln the old construction with box-type saddles, this has resulted in some very undesirable designs but in the present unit construction the exhaust passages can be made mozt direct as seen in Fig. 4. No bolting flanges are required nor means for mounting the various pipes and the exhaust stand and thus the construction is materially simplified. Each exhaust passage slopes slightly downward to meet the bottom of the exhaust stand and then curves upward with an easy sweep into the stand which brings together all four exhaust passages. Suitable longitudinal and transverse baille walls 46 and 47 respectively, are provided at the bottom of the exhaust stand to prevent the transference of rthe exhaust pressure of one cylinder to another or from one end to the other of the same cylinder and further to assist in the easy entrance of exhaust steam into the exhaust stand.

In order to provide steam forthe feed water heater located at 19, the exhaust passages from the forward ends of the valve chambers are bifurcated as shown in Fig. 5.

- begins, in the feed water heater.

steam to the feed water heater. yBy the above described arrangement a very direct course for the steam is arranged and the exhaust steam delivered to the feedwater heater .is moved so directly and with so few changes 1n its course as to realize a material part of the effect of the cylinder pressure, when exhaust Furthermore, with the present arrangement all of the piping for the exhaust steam lies within the smoke box and is thus protected from the weather and insulated against loss of heat.

The water pipe leading from the feed water heater to the feed water pump passes out through the rear wall of the lower portion of the smoke-box where it is wider than the boiler barrel. For this purpose a iange is arranged inside of the smoke-box and a Harige 51 outside thereof, the two being connected together by the elbow 52 passing through the wall of the smoke-box. A pipe from the feed water heater leads into and is attached to a fiange 50 and the water passes through the elbow 52 to the outside pipe leading to the pump which is attached to the ange 51 as will be understood from Fig. 6. In order that the unit assembly previously described may be attached to the main frames of a locomotive, which are shown in dotted lines at 53 in Fig. 4, the vertical webs 55 are provided on the assembly which are adapted to be received between and securely bolted to the main frame members. These webs 55 are secured together by the horizontal member 56 thus forming what may be considered a beam. Between the main portion of the main frames, and directly between the cylinders, the webs 55 are deepest as best shown in Fig. 7. These portions are received between the main portions of the main frames. Slightly inset from the webs 55 are the narrower web portions 57 forming the side members of the bumper beam and extending to the coupler bracket attaching means 58. The insets between the plates 55 and 57 form shoulders 60 to interlock with the main frame extensions 61 which fit beside the bumper beam. The bumper beam side members are elevated somewhat above the plates 55 which form the main attachment to the frames, as shown in Figs. 7, and are attached together by the topmember 62 and reinforced by webs such as 63 and 64. Passing vertically through the bumper beam is the guide 65 for the pony truck swivel post.

This guide sleeve is cast integral with the top member 62 and is positioned and reinforced by the web 63 and other webs such as G6 all within the bumper beam. A suitable bushing 67 may be pressed into the guide 65.

It will be understood that all of the parts previously described with the exception of the removable bushings, are cast as an integral whole. In order to reinforce and brace these parts and securely attach them together, a number of integral webs and flanges are provided. The front end of the unit is provided with a front closure plate 68 through which the exhaust conduits 44 pass and into which they merge to form the front wall above the cylinders. This plate extends up and forms a portion G9 of the smoke-box front beyond the door. Similarly a rear plate 7 0 connects the smoke-box with the rear ends of the cylinders and steam chests. These parts form, in effect, a transverse girder making use of the bottom wall of the smoke-box, the front and rear plates, the exhaust conduits and the attaching portions for the main frames, thus securely attaching the cylinders to each other and bracing them against relative movement. Further reinforcing means may be seen at 71 in the form of gusset plates at the cylinder ends, which moet longitudinal webs 72 which connect the cylinders just above their center lines to the plates 55 and 57. The lower side of the forward portion of the smoke-box is connected to the upper plate 62 of the bumper beam by means o the spaced webs 74 running fore and aft and spreading at their tops as shown gt 75 where they are attached to the smOke- The bumper proper is formed of two, more or less triangular shaped, portions 76, shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4, which are adapted to be bolted against the sides of the bumper beam and to overlap the portions 61 of the main frame and be secured thereto. They form no part of the present invention but it is considered to be novel to provide the bumper beam integral with the other portions of the structure for the rigid attachment of the bumper brackets. The exhaust passages are tied down to, and the exhaust stand supported from, the top plate 56 of the main frame attaching means by the fore and aft web 77.

In order to provide means for truck equalizer supports, the seats for gib-stands 80 are cast integral with the previously described portions of the structurefor the purpose of transmitting the load to the equalizers through suitable gib-stands, not shown.

In forming the front end of the smoke-box the door seat has been made larger than the constricted neck portion 82 just behind the seat and this provides a groove in which a rope sling may be fitted for lifting the front end of a locomotive during repair or wrecking operations.

It will be seen from the above descriptions that the structure just described provides means for attaining all of the objects and features of the invention previously enumerated and other detail features which have not been specifically recited.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a locomotive, in combination, a

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smoke-boxy of non-circular transverse section, and a cylinder saddle, the lower wall of said smoke-box forming a portion of said saddle.

2. In a locomotive, in combination, a smoke-box and cylinders, said smoke-box forming a portion of the supporting means for said cylinders.

3. In a locomotive, in combination, a smoke-box and a pair of cylinder and steam chest assemblies, said smoke-box being integral with said assemblies and serving to take a portion of the stress produced by steam in said cylinders.

4. In a locomotive having main frames, in combination,- a smoke-box and a main frame attaching means, said means being formed integral with and being reinforced by said smoke-box.

5. In a locomotive having main frames, in combination, a smoke-box and a main frame attaching means, said means being formed integral with and being reinforced :by said smoke-box, and cylinders secured between said smoke-box and said frame attaching means.

6. In a locomotive having main frames, in combination, a smoke-box and a main frame attaching means, said means being formed integral with and being reinforced by said smoke-box, and cylinders secured between said smoke-box and said frame attaching means and integral with said parts.

7 In a locomotive, in combination, a front end structure including as integral parts, a smoke-box, cylinders, steam-chests and exhaust steam conduits.

8. A locomotive front end structure including as integral parts, a smoke-box, cylinders, valve chambers, exhaust steam conduits and a main frame attaching means.

9. A locomotive front end structure including as integral parts, a smoke-box, cylinders, valve chambers and a main frame attaching means, all of said parts belng braced by webs and flanges to function as a cylinder saddle.

10. A locomotive front end structure including as integral parts, a smoke-box, cylinders and means tying said cylinders together, the upper wall of said means forming the bottom of said smoke-box and being depressed below the bottom of the locomotive boiler.

11. A locomotive front end structure including as integral parts, a smoke-box, cylinders and means tying said cylinders togather, the upper wall of said means forming the bottom of said smoke-box and being depressed below the bottom of the locomotive oiler, and an exhaust stand carried by said wall.

12. A locomotive front end structure adaptto fit on the forward end of the boiler barrel and to be secured to the main frames and including as integral parts, a smoke-box having its bottom wall depressed below the bottom of the boiler shell, cylinders having exhaust conduits and an exhaust stand carried by said wall and in communication with said conduits.

13. A locomotive front end structure adapted to fit on the forward end of the boiler barrel and to be secured to the main frames and including as integral parts, a smoke-box having its bottom Wall depressed below the bottoni of the boiler shell, cylinders having exhaust conduits, an exhaust stand carried by said wall and in communication with said conduits, and webs forming with said wall and conduits a girder connecting said cylinders to each other and to said smoke-box.

14. In a locomotive, a smoke-box having a boiler barrel attaching ring, said smoke-box extending laterally beyond the lines of said barrel and a steam-chest abutting said extended portion.

15. In a locomotive, a smoke-box having a boiler barrel attaching ring, said smoke-box extending laterally' beyond the lines of said barrel, a steam-chest abutting said extended portion, and a live steam conduit formed integral with the smoke-box wall and the steamc lest.

16. In a locomotive, in combination, a combined cylinder and cylinder saddle, a smokebox, an exhaust stand housed in said saddle, a valve chamber, an integral exhaust conduit from said chamber to said stand and a branch of said conduit leading through the wall of said smoke-box to supply steam to a feed water heater.

17. In a` locomotive in combination, a smoke-box having integral with `the walls thereof seats for superheaters, said seats communicating with integral live steam passages to the valve chests.

18. In a locomotive, in combination, an integral smoke-box, an external stack portion and an internal stack portion, said smoke-box having a depressed bottom portion to collect cinders in the path of the maximum draft.

19. In a locomotive, in combination, a smoke-box, a cylinder, a` steam-chest secured to said cylinder and a live steam conduit integral with said smoke-box and steam chest whereby ingress of air to said smoke-box is prevented.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aix my signature.

WILLIAM F. KIESEL, JR. 

